General Headquarters<\/strong><\/p><\/h1><\/div> Generalate and International House of Study<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div> Rome, Italy<\/strong> Located close to the center of Rome, the Marians’ Generalate is the “mother house” of the worldwide Congregation of Marians. Members of the Congregation come to Rome to work, study, and grow closer to the heart of the Church. The Superior General of the Congregation and his Council oversee the work of the Marians worldwide and are directly in charge of the Marian communities in Lithuania, Latvia, Ukraine, Rwanda, Cameroon, Philippines, and Asia.<\/p>\n Superior General<\/b> Generalate Address<\/b> Legal Representative of the General House<\/strong> View of the main entrance of the General House.<\/p>\n<\/div> View of the chapel in the General House.<\/p>\n<\/div> Marian Generalate, Rome, Italy. View from the garden.<\/p>\n<\/div> First Marians in the Eternal City<\/strong><\/p>\n History of the Marian beginnings in Rome\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n Twice in his lifetime our Founder, Saint Stanislaus Papczy\u0144ski, visited Rome \u2013 first as a Piarist and again as a Marian, seeking the Apostolic See’s approval of the Institute. His successor \u2013 and one of the most active Marians after Fr.\u00a0Stanislaus but before the renewal \u2013 was Fr.\u00a0Joachim of St.\u00a0Ann Kozlowski. He also visited Rome twice, each time seeking approval of the Marian Order. Neither one intended, however, to start a Marian foundation in Rome. It was only in\u00a01731, when the Venerable Servant of God, Fr.\u00a0Casimir of St.\u00a0Joseph Wyszynski had come to Rome for the third time that efforts were made to establish the Marians permanently in the Eternal City, with the hope of attracting other vocations to the order.<\/p>\n On July\u00a09,\u00a01731, Fr.\u00a0Casimir signed a contract with Marchese Christopher Cenci to take possession of the Chapel of Our Lady “dei Cerchi” and all the buildings, which formed the chapel property owned by the Marchese. A few days later, on July\u00a016, Fr.\u00a0Casimir took possession of the chapel with the ritual-like gesture of touching its walls and, after receiving the keys from the Marchese, opening and closing the doors of the chapel.<\/p>\n According to the law, the property had to remain in the estate of the Marchese Cenci. However, it was given to the Marians for perpetual use upon annual payment of 15\u00a0Roman scudi, provided the General Council in Poland confirmed the contract. Unfortunately, after two years, Fr.\u00a0Casimir was obliged to end the contract because of disagreement on the part of the General Council. The place was not conducive to good health, infecting the Marians who lived there with malaria. Some Italian and Spanish candidates for the Order died there from malaria. Father Casimir left Rome, and returned to Poland in\u00a01733. However, Fr.\u00a0Casimir did not abandon his plans of creating in Rome permanent headquarters for his Order. This was his guiding principle during his stay in Rome in\u00a01751-1753. Unfortunately, once again, he was unable to bring his endeavors to a successful conclusion.<\/p>\n<\/div> St. Vitus Church in Rome<\/strong><\/p>\n After two unsuccessful attempts (1731-33, 1751-53) to find a permanent residence for the Marians in Rome, the General Chapter in\u00a01776 appointed Fathers Candis Spourny and John Niezabitowski to go to Rome. They were assigned primarily to promote the causes of beatification of Fr.\u00a0Founder and Fr.\u00a0Casimir Wyszynski. Meanwhile, they were to look again for some church and convent as permanent headquarters in the Eternal City. At the end of\u00a01776, those two Fathers came to Rome and stayed for some time with the Franciscans at Aracoeli. Father Candis immediately started efforts to find some place for the Marians. From the letters sent by him to the Superior General in Poland and to Fr.\u00a0Fischer in Portugal, we know that he tried to acquire the church and convent of Santa Marian in Navicella. (Father Casimir Wyszynski had earlier made similar efforts.) At the end of\u00a01777, he found that the Cistercians intended to sell their monastery. It was attached to the ancient church of San Vito, which dates back to the eighth century. On February\u00a023,\u00a01779, Pope Pius\u00a0VI, in an Apostolic Brief, gave permission to the Cistercians to sell their monastery to the Marians. The price was 2,299\u00a0scudi. Of this, 1,000\u00a0was payable upon signing the contract of purchase. The documents were signed on July\u00a012,\u00a01779, and the Marians took possession on July\u00a014,\u00a01779. The balance was paid in installments on August\u00a04,\u00a01781, and December\u00a029,\u00a01781.<\/p>\n<\/div> Even in those days money was not easy to come by. The Marians from Poland were able to send only 500 scudi; the rest was paid by Archbishop Carlo Camuzi, a friend of the Marians, particularly of Fr. Candis. Financial arrangements between Archbishop Camuzi and the Marians subsequently became a big headache. Unfortunately, they became entangled in financial problems between the Archbishop and the Polish Prince, August Sulkowski, who took out a loan from the Archbishop and then wouldn’t repay it. The Marians, unwisely, promised to get the Prince to return his loan. It was on this condition the Archbishop offered money to buy the monastery. This money was also offered under still more binding conditions: the Marians would pay an annual 6% interest, they would say Mass after the death of the Archbishop in perpetuity, and finally, the Archbishop be allowed to live in the monastery of San Vito, gratis, till his death.<\/p>\n As it turned out, neither the Archbishop nor the Marians ever retrieved the money lent to Prince Sulkowski. The Archbishop found residence at the convent of Santa Maria in Trivio, where he died on October 6, 1788. The Marians stayed in Rome until Napoleon’s troops occupied this city.<\/p>\n<\/div> Copyright \u00a9 2022 Marian Fathers<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div> It is interesting to note that shortly after the acquisition of the new General Procurator\u2019s Headquarters, a large size painting of Our Lady Immaculately Conceived was installed in the church. This image was commissioned by the Marian Fathers and painted by Franciszek Smuglewicz, a Polish painter and illustrator; he was born on October 6, 1745, in Warsaw, and died in Vilnius September 18, 1807.<\/p>\n From 1763 to 1784, Smuglewicz stayed in Rome, perfecting his skills by attending, among others, the Academy of St. Luke, thanks to the scholarship granted by King Stanislaus August Poniatowski. While living in Rome, the artist undertook at the request of Fr. Candidus Spourny, to paint an image of Our Lady, which work has been originally commissioned to one of the Roman artists. However, for unknown reasons and despite accepting the down payment, this artist did not perform the work. Remarkably, modern Italian publications erroneously attribute the authorship of the painting to Pietro Gagliardi, who lived from 1809-1890.<\/p>\n The image, which Smuglewicz painted in a classical style, was installed by the Marians in the main altar of their new Roman church in December of 1782.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>
\n Established in 1925<\/strong><\/p>\n
\nMost Rev. Joseph Roesch, MIC
\nE-mail: superioregenerale@marians.it<\/a><\/p>\n
\nCuria Generalizia dei Chierici Mariani
\nVia Corsica, 1
\n00198 Roma, Italia
\nTel.: (39-06) 853-703-1
\nFax: (39-06) 853-703-22<\/p>\n
\nFr. Wojciech Jasinski, MIC
\neconomo@marians.it
\neconomo@pec.it<\/p>\n<\/div>![](\"http:\/\/padrimariani.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2019\/04\/ROME-MARIAN-GERNERAL-HOUSE-copy.jpg\")
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